The Ring Finders Blog | Page 7 of 1067

At 7:05 pm, the night before Thanksgiving, I received a message about a lost ring at Lakeside Beach, South Lake Tahoe. According to the client, that afternoon he lost his platinum ring throwing a football with family members on the beach.
At 8:10 am, Thanksgiving morning, I arrived at Lakeside Beach and began a grid search of the pinned location.
At 8:20 am the client with two family members arrived at the beach. After recounting the previous day’s movements, they collectively revised the search area.
I started a new grid search and literally within 2 minutes got a solid target signal near one of the picnic tables. I didn’t even need the scoop, I just reached down and sifted the sand with my fingers—Lost platinum ring found!
The client was blown away with the speed of the recovery.
A great way to start a Thanksgiving morning with a lost ring recovery.

I got a call passed along by Darrin Gray a fellow Ring Finder about a couple whose evening stroll in a park in St. Louis Park, MN, took a disastrous turn. While crossing a pedestrian bridge over a creek, they accidentally dropped their cell phone into the water below. To make it even more gut-wrenching, it was a brand-new Apple iPhone—less than two months old—and supposedly waterproof. Ouch! They reached out to see if I’d be interested in attempting a recovery. I was about 45 minutes away, with a packed schedule for the next couple of days, but I had a narrow window that evening. It was already 6:30 PM, so by the time I’d arrive, it’d be pitch dark. I quickly gathered my gear—waders, lights, scoops, and my metal detector—stuff I hadn’t pulled out in over a year—and hit the road.I met the client in a dimly lit parking lot under the glow of streetlights. Suited up and ready, I waded into the creek with my tools and a dash of optimism. The drop spot was right in the center, about 4 feet from the bridge’s drip line. Sounds straightforward, right? Not so much. The water was littered with sunken trees, branches, and debris, but the real nightmare was the mud—18 to 20 inches deep. Every step took 3-4 minutes: plant one foot, wiggle the other free from the suction, repeat. It was exhausting!After about 20 minutes of slogging to the center, I started detecting. The once-clear water turned into murky soup as I scooped up targets. But persistence paid off—out popped the iPhone! Now came the trek back to shore, phone in hand. It was dead at first, but the client later confirmed it charged up and worked perfectly.Moral of the story: Even “waterproof” tech isn’t mud-proof, but with the right tools and grit, lost treasures can resurface. If you’ve got a similar saga, hit me up! Paul Nolan Ring Finders #LostAndFound #MetalDetecting #iPhoneRecovery

 

 

 

 

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Heroic Effort Leads to an Unexpected Recovery

What started as a routine wildlife photography outing turned into a life-threatening situation when a man fell through the ice in a marsh. After struggling for an hour to free himself, he called 911. Responding officers rushed to the scene in the dark, navigating treacherous terrain to save him from freezing to death.

To reach the victim, one officer crossed a 3-foot-deep stream, climbed a bank, and pushed another 75 feet through brambles and cattails into the marsh. The rescue was successful—but in the process, the officer lost his personal cellphone. With a fresh 3-inch snowfall covering the area, finding it seemed impossible.

Enter Darrin Gray from The Ring Finders. Darrin contacted fellow Ring Finder Paul Nolan, who happened to be working just 15 minutes away and had his metal detecting gear with him. Despite the bitter cold and no waders, Paul agreed to give it a shot.

The search began along the snow-covered path, through trees and brush, and into the marsh. Targets under the ice slowed progress—beer cans, rusty metal, and other debris. To speed things up, the officer used a handheld pin-pointer (a small, carrot-shaped detector that vibrates near metal) while Paul swept the area with his detector.

Breaking through thin ice, stomping through cattails, and clearing countless false targets, they worked their way back toward the spot where the victim had been rescued. Then, near the creek bank where the officer had climbed out of the icy water, the pin-pointer vibrated strongly. Pulling apart bent reeds, they found it—the officer’s phone! After 40 hours in the marsh, it was intact, just with a dead battery.

Against all odds, the phone was recovered. It hadn’t been submerged, and now it could be returned to a hero who risked everything to save someone in need. When asked if he’d receive an award for going above and beyond, the officer simply said, “No—it was just another night at work.”

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A Big Thank You

To all the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe—thank you. And to Darrin and Paul from The Ring Finders, your determination turned a lost cause into a  lost cause into a success story.